Page 237 - NOTES ON EZEKIEL

CHAPTER XLII. 231
reed. Turning to the west side, he measured five hun­
dred reeds with the measuring-reed. He measured it by
its four sides; it had a wall round about, five hundred
long, and five hundred broad, to make a separation be­
tween the holy and the profane place.” (Yers. 15-20.)
It is well known that there has been no little debate
as to the reading in verse 16, and whether the word
here used (□’’Jj?) should betaken in the sense of “ reeds”*
or not; for that of the text (“ five cubits”) is clearly an
error of transcription, and the “ five hundred” of the
Keri must be adopted. Some would strike out the
measure altogether (and the LXX waver in the verses).
Doubtless the space would be far larger than Mount
Moriah as it is ; but this is a small difficulty to the be­
liever, who looks for great physical change according to
prophecy. To view it as hyperbolical, and yet as
leaving the literal interpretation intact, seems to me not
only unbelieving but absurd. But when men yield them­
selves up to unbelief in the presence and power of the
Spirit, we must not expect faith in the word of God to
be strong; and when they attenuate the effects of the
first coming of the Saviour as to the reconciliation of His
own, why be surprised if the glorious results of His re­
turn and kingdom are perverted and frittered away ?

* Mr. II. A. Wassell (Holy Land, W. J. Johnson, 1875) saysf
4i This is evidently a mistake, as it would make the Temple six
times as broad as the measurements of the previous chapters; and
I may further observe that the measurements of the other parts of
the Temple that we have not yet come to exactly agree in making
the Temple 500 cubits square. The Septuagint has in this place
cubits instead of reeds, and it is a singular fact that the area on
Mount Moriah is about 500 cubits or over 300 yards broad.” (pp.
25, 26.)